The Missoula Public Library closed out 2024 by bringing home another international award, this one a top recognition for its sustainability features.
Just two years ago, the International Federation of Library Associations named the Missoula institution “Public Library 2022,” in part for its architecture and its sustainability features, a first for a library in North America.
The new win, from the same federation, is a first place for “International Green Library, Grand Scale.” Based in Minneapolis, MSR Design was the lead architecture firm for the project, and it worked with A&E Design of Missoula.
Karl Olson, head of the Missoula Public Library Foundation, said the honor expresses the values of the community, and the design allows the library to continue to green up in the future given budget constraints in the planning and construction phases.
“They (community members) wanted the new library to be as green as possible,” Olson said.
The design features that allow it to become more energy efficient down the road include rooftop spaces where plants can be added, for example.
A “living roof” would capture carbon dioxide emissions and help cool the downtown and counteract the “heat island effect,” where buildings in urban areas absorb and reflect more heat than natural areas.
Olson received the award this fall in Barcelona at the International Library Conference, and he gave a presentation there called “The Keys to a Green Library.”
“We didn’t win this award by being the perfect green library,” Olson said in a recent interview with the Daily Montanan. “There’s cost-benefit analyses that always have to happen with a project like this, and we just have done everything we can to make it as green as possible with the price tag that we had.”
The $38 million building opened downtown in 2021. In 2023, the library welcomed 515,500 visitors and circulated 715,000 items in the community, and Olson said it has been “proudly fine-free” since 2021.
A recent newsletter story about the award names energy innovations and social sustainability strategies among the concepts that earned the library the win, with both expected and less obvious features.
For example, the library notes a rooftop photovoltaic array provides 10% of its electricity. However, it points to features designed to promote well-being too, such as a “state-of-the-art ventilation system.”
Cultural heritage elements aim to create a sense of belonging, such as wall panels that describe the history of the area. One describes Glacial Lake Missoula in both English and Salish.
“The Salish called our area of the glacial lake Nmesulétkʷ, ‘place of the freezing water,'” said one panel. ” … Missoula’s Salish place name is testament to the enduring influence of the people who witnessed Nmesulétkʷ and the making of geological history.”
The old library building also was located downtown, and the newsletter story about planning the new one identified the decision to keep it in the core of the city as rooted in sustainability, with access to public transit.
A count of energy use per square foot annually shows the new library is measurably more sustainable than the old building, according to data from the library.
The old building had an energy use intensity, or EUI, of 108, Olson said. The new building is designed for an EUI of 38, or a 65% energy savings, he said. It’s currently at about 68, and the library continues to calibrate its use to become more efficient.
“It has been going down since we opened three years ago,” Olson said.
By comparison, an Energy Star list of U.S. EUI by property type in 2024 measured the median library at 143.6, a general public building at 89.3, and a church at 58.4.
(Olson said a measure of 33 would make the library a net-zero building, although it can’t achieve that level until more affordable, renewable energy is available.)
Daylight is the library’s primary source of light in its public areas, and the building is angled to take in as much sunlight in this hemisphere as possible.
The library also highlights “sharing” as one of the ways it’s sustainable, and it identifies more than books as items it offers. Olson said “sharing” is at the heart of the mission of libraries in general.
“It’s what libraries have done from the very beginning,” he said. “Their entire, very successful, model is based on sustainability.”
He said the library in Missoula and others around the world have expanded on the idea of a “sharing economy” to offer everything from 3D printers to seeds people can plant in their gardens to pasta makers.
Katie Samuels and Nick Ehlers, interim co-executive directors of Families First Missoula, said their organization and the parents, children and teens it serves are part of that sharing.
For one thing, Families First, which has a mission to strengthen families through education and connection, is among the community organizations that shares the library building itself. But Samuels said youngsters, parents and caregivers use the library’s kitchen and can take cooking classes geared to families.
Students who are interested in making films have access to cameras, for instance.
Ehlers said one student who is interested in opening up a restaurant or a business related to food has checked out cookbooks and other cooking equipment. The library checks out baking pans in special shapes for different cakes and many other tools.
“Any parent understands how expensive all the equipment is,” Ehlers said.
Olson said the library considers the needs of sustaining life for a human being as well. People are part of the ecosystem, and he said the library is designed to be a healthy place for them to spend time, such as with “the best ventilation system in Missoula.”
Ensuring clean air was costly, he said, but it means people in Missoula have a free place to breathe fresh air when smoke pollutes the skies during wildfire season.
The Missoula Public Library was the first library in the U.S. to win first place for “Green Library, Grand Scale,” and Olson said the structure and vision that earned the award are intended to support Missoula for the long term.
“Library leadership from the beginning wanted a building that could last 100 years or more and adapt to changes in the community, and they got that,” Olson said.
From the library newsletter
“This award is a testament to MPL’s deep commitment to sustainability, in the design of the library’s new flagship building, and through its operation and programming. … Missoula Public Library is modeling the way for its peers.” — Tracie Engel Lesneski, principal and CEO, MSR Design.
Statistics from the Missoula Public Library
Fifty-six percent of county residents are library cardholders. All programs produced by the library, its partners co-located in the downtown library, or outside entities are free and open to everyone who wishes to attend, regardless of economic status, education level, or background.
In 2023, the library welcomed 515,500 visitors, 715,000 items were circulated in the community, and 23,000 people attended more than a thousand library programs.
Free, shared gathering spaces are in high demand in Missoula, and to meet that need MPL hosted nearly 3,000 community groups for 7,300 hours of public meeting room use in 2023. That same year, almost one million Wi-Fi sessions provided users with fast and free internet access. MPL has been proudly fine-free since 2021.
(Source: Missoula Public Library)
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